Uzbekistan joins China-Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railway corridor

According to the press service of the Kazakhstan Railways, Uzbekistan has joined the China-Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railway corridor

“On April 4, a meeting of officials of the railway authorities of Kazakhstan, China, Iran, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan took place in Almaty dedicated to advancing of cargo traffic along the transport corridor. The traffic volume along the China-Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran corridor reached 1,000 TEU last year,” the statement of the Kazakhstan Railways reads.

Kanat Almagambetov, First Deputy Chairman of the Board of Kazakhstan Railways, noted that the flow of containerized cargo increased, especially to Uzbekistan and through the Bolashak station to Iran. With the accession of Uzbekistan, the corridor will become much shorter.

“To increase transit cargo transportation from China to our countries and in other directions, it is important to set acceptable tariff and other terms,” Almagambetov said.

Furthermore, the meeting discussed issues of attracting additional goods to the Iran-PRC route, organizing regular container services and establishing tariff conditions along the China-Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan-Turkmenistan-Iran corridor for loaded containers in 2019. The regular feeder service has been launched as of April on the Aktau-Alat route.

Following the meeting, Uzbekistan has joined the China-Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railway corridor, in particular the participation of the Uzbek side in container traffic on this route. The parties also agreed on complex tariff rates.